A Work in Progress (with Guest Artwork)

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ― Confucius

It has been a very busy week preparing for our annual showcase. Long days leave us with hanging limbs, aching muscles, cracking ankles, and lots of homework waiting in our school bags. And I love it. Even when it means the rest of Canada is celebrating a long weekend while we have rehearsals in two out of the three days.

Don’t  get me wrong, I enjoy being lazy. There truly is nothing like lounging around on a couch reading a book, watching nostalgic television shows, and blogging away here on WP, but being busy is satisfying. Having work and goals leads to personal growth that makes us feel like a contributing part of society. Vacation is great, but I think, as human beings, if we had all the time in the world we would still find some project to work on, because we are naturally curious that way.

In ballet, it is much the same way except we can’t decide when we dance from when we want to, but also when we need to – it’s about discipline as much as desire. Maintaining strength and stamina is especially important the days leading up to a performance because often, muscle memory isn’t enough. After getting into the routine, our bodies crave the exercise, and sometimes even the soreness, strangely enough.

Ballet is a never-ending process of discovery. Each day, we get into class practising the same movements we’ve been doing for years. But then again, it’s never the same because bodies change and we are constantly finding new ways to engage our muscles and refine our artistry. Perfectionism is a raging epidemic in dancers because everyone is in pursuit of pure, classical, virtuosity. There is an internal hunger in all of us to reach the ideal, ballerina whose picture only becomes more perfect the closer we get. It’s what keeps us on our toes.

The older I get, the more I realize you cannot have a successful career unless you are head-over-heels-flat-on-your-face in love with ballet. Work is paired with passion, and learning about the art form and yourself is just as important as the performance onstage. With the words from my teacher, I’ve realized that there is never a finished product and that we are not “finished dancers”, especially as students still in a school. There is always more to learn and more to improve on to fulfill the potential that sometimes we don’t see in ourselves. And this does not only apply to ballet.

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I would like to acknowledge Bradley for his beautiful sketches (that he drew for me a LONG time ago) and that inspired me to write this post. Please check out the original art and his blog here!

As you’ve read, I have incorporated an excuse for my inactivity in this post and am itching to complete all the ideas that I had a few weeks ago in my What Now? list. There is a lot of school work to be done this weekend, and as I’ve mentioned, rehearsals, but I am determined to write at least one little something each day.

Thanks for reading,
thebookybunhead

Triduum (and Happy Easter!)

Enter a hall of candlelight and incense
A gentle chant emerges from a circle crowd of bowed heads
Old melodies float through smoke-enveloped prayers

Readings stir memories with hymns that haunt the heart
Minds remember a well known story brought forth from its dusty shelf
Trembling eyes watch it unfold, in awe of history and hope

Candle flames passed from hand to hand,
a sweeping tide of flickering lights
In a sea of little orbs, illuminated faces glow,
chasing cold night’s air away
As acapella voices break the silence of darkness

After long preparations of solemn reflection in Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, we can finally say, HAPPY EASTER! The biggest celebration of Christian religion is now truly joyful and we can now indulge from our Lenten restrains (churches must also heave a sigh of relief after that marathon of services). Today, I believe in miracles.

Regardless of your faith, I wish you all a wonderful Easter holiday and a great weekend to spend with family and friends!
Thanks for reading,
thebookybunhead

Sometimes I forget. And I need to remind myself.

thebookybunhead

Who asked you to train so hard to be able
to stand in turn-out by changing the natural
way our bodies are supposed to function?

Why choose to end up being exhausted,
with sore muscles, and battered up feet
at the end of the day?

How to continue your journey when many
people not part of your world don’t understand what you do
though they think they do, and base their judgment
and words on what they think wrongly
right?

What makes you want to spend years on
the same old thing just to try to perfect
technique that cannot ever be fully perfected?

How to go through all the sweat and
tears, to get to the dream that you know
many other people around the world have
too?

Who came up with the idea to make
something very apparently not easy, seem
effortless in front of the outsiders?

In…

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“Everyone has a happy ending, if you’re not happy, it’s not the end.” -The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Coffee Chats at the Bulldog:

Eight of us sat closely around a table exchanging quotes, laughter, and our plans for the coming week of break. The vanilla mint tea latte sat in front of me with its drizzled chocolate sauce, daring me to chug its steaming contents in one gulp.  A month had passed of rigorous practice for our ballet exam and after the high rush of performance, the degree of our tiredness was starting to sink in.

Deciding we were all exhausted and unfocused with the idea of a week break to be productive, we spent class stretching for a few minutes, sharing videos including a cat playing piano (link down below), and absorbing our teacher’s enlightening words of wisdom before she brought us here, to Bulldog Coffeehouse, a few minutes walk maneuvering around dog bombs and slipping around mounds of frozen slush. We toasted to a great half a year, relaxing rest, and an even better fresh start to next term.  We were only missing each other’s company for ten days, but it felt like the simultaneous conclusion and beginning of something much bigger. Many of us will be going on exchange this summer to dance across the border and sipping our foamy drinks, we talked about traveling the world and the diverse experiences that are waiting out there in our future.

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” -Charlie in Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Looking at my teacher and all my friends with whom I’ve shed blood, sweat, tears with and whom I’ve shared uncontrollable laughter and encouraging war cries with, I felt so lucky to be a part of a family of such inspirational artists. We may not know where we will end up after we graduate, but we can enjoy every step along the way knowing that there is so much to explore and so much that we can offer to the world as individuals. Life isn’t perfect, but we should never forget why we dance or what brings joy into our lives. Because the more we love life, the closer we get to our happy ending.

Thanks for reading,
-thebookybunhead

Cat piano concert video we watched in the studio, gathering around a little iPhone screen:

“See the music, hear the dance.” -George Balanchine

So we all know Balanchine was a genius. But apart from his achievements of irreversibly changing ballet vocabulary and staging (he doesn’t ‘create’, God does) one of the most diverse, lasting repertoire of ballet works today, he was also a man of character – of passionate drive, and nonchalance.

“George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker” written by Robert Gottlieb documents the illustrious development of his career and works, and attempts to explain his deep philosophies of dance and music; but possibly most fascinatingly, allows us a glimpse into daily life of the man, compiling true and intimate memories through people who actually knew him. It is one of many biographies about this amazing artist, and a rather nice short and light one to start off with.

It is truly a remarkable story, spanning across the globe from Russia, to Europe, to America; and in different fields, from operas, to ballet companies, to film and Broadway. It is easy to speak of Balanchine’s successes and label him a superhuman; however, this story reveals the hardships and failures that went along with cultivating his talents. Funny to think he was not interested in dance when he was first accepted in to Mariinsky. It is always inspirational to learn the story of how someone seemingly ordinary can become so extraordinary. Though there are discrepancies regarding his own dancing as written in the opinions of the book, there is absolutely no doubt of Balanchine’s choreographic merit.

In addition being a talented musician Balanchine integrated dance and music in intricacies that were never seen before. His works can be seen as simple and yet rich simultaneously.  He had great relationships with as well as respect for his dancers, and it shows in the final product onstage. Mr. B, as they called him, inspired them in every rehearsal, specific to his esthetic but always willing to explore, sometimes even using mistakes for the piece. As much as he admired beauty, especially that of the female ballerina, he valued musicality, dynamics and agility in a dancer. For him, dance in one word: energy.

(with Stravinsky, a life-long partnership)

In spite of his vibrancy, Balanchine was, I dare say, a quiet man. And it is predictable considering his childhood isolation from basically being dumped at the school by his parents for his better future and leaving his home country at teenage years only to not see most of his family again. He certainly loved his family, but did not speak of them often, which leads me to a thought, how special is a blood relation? Sure, family is family, and the bonds are irreplaceable and infinite, but do between parent and child, or sibling to sibling, they need to be built just as in any other relationship?

Of some similarity was a sort of disattachment in his marriages. Balanchine had several muses, five of whom became his wife at some point in their lives, and when he loved he was truly passionate. He put women on a pedestal in a sort of veneration, which is not suited for everyone. Often it was a splitting in their professions that caused drifting between the couple as Balanchine needed a muse for creation and inspiration.

Dismissing any eccentricities that I must admit defines every artist, Balanchine was a generous man to the ballet world. He pushed the boundaries of an existing art form while remaining true to its core and virtuoso. I can only imagine from this reading what it must have been like to be taught by him, meet him, or simply to have a peek of him in the studio.

(Photos from two of my favourite Balanchine ballets: Serenade and Apollo)

Why ballet? My answer in prose.

Who asked you to train so hard to be able
to stand in turn-out by changing the natural
way our bodies are supposed to function?

Why choose to end up being exhausted,
with sore muscles, and battered up feet
at the end of the day?

How to continue your journey when many
people not part of your world don’t understand what you do
though they think they do, and base their judgment
and words on what they think wrongly
right?

What makes you want to spend years on
the same old thing just to try to perfect
technique that cannot ever be fully perfected?

How to go through all the sweat and
tears, to get to the dream that you know
many other people around the world have
too?

Who came up with the idea to make
something very apparently not easy, seem
effortless in front of the outsiders?

In short, why do all this hard work just to
dance; an occupation that is hardly long-lasting
or considered well paying?

Because, it is something you love to do.
Your passion.

Something that makes you
happy; something that you want to do in
your life because it completes it.

Because you can feel free and be yourself in as
many expressions possible.

Simply, because it is who you are.

And we remember this:
“If ballet were easy, they’d call it football.”

Rediscovered and republished from 2009